Manufacture of woven wire fabric.



` T. H. WIGKWIRB.

MANUPAGTUBB or WOVEN WIRE FABRIC.

APPLICATION FILED PEB. 8, 1912.. y

` Patented Apr.28,1914

.TINTTED STATES' rnfinnfr carica.'

rnnononn H. Wrckwran, or oo-RTLAND, NEW YORK, Assioma To WIGKWIREanormales, ING., OF ooa'rLANi), NEW YORK, A conPOnArrO-N or NEW YORK.

iuMauriacfirmer: or Woven Winn maare.

innesca.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patehted n. esiaia.

To a-ZZ lwhom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, THEODORE H. WICK- wiim, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Cortland, in ,the county of Cortland and State ofNew York, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in theManufacture of Woven Wire Fabric, of which th following is aspecification.

This invention pertains to the manufacture of wire gauze or wire clothhaving a protecting coating of noncorrodible metal, or of metal lessreadily corrodible than the original wires or strands constituting thefoundation of the fabric.

The object of the invention is to produce at relatively small cost awire fabric capable of witlistandingthe corroding effect of salt air ordamp air, and in greater or less degree capable of withstanding theeffect of fumes and vapors arising from chemical and metallurgicalprocesses and the like.

The inventionconsists in first coating the wire with a protecting metalWhile in the strand, and beforey weaving it into gauze, cloth or fabric,thereafter Weaving it into such fabric, and finally electroplating thewoven fabric.

Tn the accompanying drawings I have illustrated. in somewhatconventional or diagrammatic fashion, apparatus by which my improvedprocess may be carried out, but it is to be understood that this ismerely suggestive, and that any suitable form of apparatus may beemployed therefor, and that the process may be carried out manuallywithout any special type of machinery or apparatus.

Tn these drawings, in which actual scale dimensions are not attempted:Figure l is a verticafsectional view, of the apparatus for 'firstcoating the wire'with a protecting metal While in the strand and beforeweaving; Fig..2 is a similar sectional view of a loom for weaving thecoated Wires int-o a fabric; Fig. 3, a like sectional view of a platingbath suitable for electroplating the woven fabric; and Fig. 4, asectional view of the woven fabric.'

Tn order that the scope of my invention may be more perfectly defined,and that the reasons for the particular mode of procedure may be betterunderstood, prior' plans may be briey noticed.

At the present time large quantities of Wire cloth or gauze suitable forwindow and door screens, for sieves, and the like, are

Woven of non-corrodible metal, or metal.

which corrodes but slightly.` This product is highly satisfactory inmany respects, but is quite costly, the cost being for many usesprohibitive. The question of strength of the Wire is also a factor, ironor steel wire of given gage possessing reater tensile strength than'copper or li e wire of the vsame diameter. To meet this difficulty ithas been proposed first, to coat the Wire in the strand b y the hotprocess, that is to say, by dipping it into or passing it through a bathof suitable metal or metals in a molten state; next weaving the coatedwire i'nto a fabric,-wire gauze, screen, orl cloth; and finally,subjecting the- Woven fabric to like treatment in a bath of moltenmetal. This mode of treatment,` while adequately protecting the wire,produces a relatively rough fabric, the wires of which are solderedtogetherat every point of crossing, and the meshes" of which are more orless irregular by reason of unequal thickness of the final coating atdifferent points. For use as sieves and the like, wire having suchirregular meshes is eculiarly unsatisfactory, and will not give t euniformity of sifted product necessary in many situations.

To overcome the difficulty just noted, it has. been proposed to employin connection .with the final dipping process, air blasts directedagainst the fabric as it emerges from the bath, and serving to blow offany surplus metal which might occasion protuberances or roughnesses.This process, while perhaps improving the product in a degree, resultsin a fabric the individual wires of which' are soldered togetherl attheir points of intersection or crossing, and this, for many uses, isobjectionable, while it may be a benefit in connection with other uses.It has also been proposed to weave the cloth, gauze, or fabric ofuncoated wires, and after Weaving to electroplat'e the fabric. This doesnot produce a fabric of the character or quality requiped for many uses,and for two reasons: First, metal electrically deposited is more or lessporous in its nature, and unless the coating be quite heavy, is liableto contain minute pores and openings through which moisture, fumes, andthe like, may reach and attack the foundation wire or strand.

and that it be subsequently again coated after being woven into fabric,so that the additional thickness or weight of coating desirable beafforded, and any points uncovered through the bending, scraping, orscratching of the preliminarily coated Wire in the course of weaving,may be protected by the second coating.

My process therefore consists in the -following steps: First, applyingto the foundation wire while in thestrand and before weaving, aprotecting coating of metal by immersion in or passage through a metalbath of any suitable or usual character. Second, Weaving suchpreliminary coated Wire into a cloth, gauze, screen, or like fabric; andthird, applying to the woven fabric by electro-deposition a finalprotecting coat- 1n gReferring now to the drawings, 1 indicates a drumor reel upon which wire is wound in single and independent strands. 2 aguide roller over which the strands are led to a bath, 3, of metal whichis kept in molten condition by fire upon a grate 4, or through othermeans of heating, the Wires passing beneath a depending guide 5 of mayterial capable of withstanding the heat, and

from which the wirespass to and over a second guide roller 6, andfinally to a receiving drurn or reel 7. ln thus passing through thepreliminary coating apparatus, which may be of any usual character, thewires,

slightly separated one from. another, become- 'coated with the metal ofthe bath, usually lead, tin or the like. The wires thus receive andretain a thin iilm of the metal, which, cooling, adheres tenaciouslythereto. The reel 7 thus charged with coated wires, is then mounted in aWire-weaving loom 8, the shuttle of which is provided with wiressimilarly coated, and the coated wires are woven into a fabric ofsuitable mesh, either gauze or coarser fabrics, according to theintended use, the finished product being received and wound on a beam 9,as usual. From the loom 8 the beam 9 is carried to an electroplatingtank 10, where the fabric is led over a guide roller 11, thence downwardbeneath a similar guide roller 12, of wood or other suitable materialimmersed in the solution of the bath, thence lengthwise of the bathandrthrough the solution, to a like roller 13 ator near the oppositeend, thence tank, and inally to a beam 15 on which the electroplatedwoven fabric is wound.

16 and 17 indicate contact ngers or plates connected with a battery orother source of electric current` and arranged to bear upon the wovenwire fabric as it enters and leaves the vat or tank.

18 indicates a cross bar or support, of which a suitable number isprovided, each reaching across the top of the tank from side to side,and serving to support an anode 19 above the fabric but within thesolution, a second set of anodes 20 being placed on the floor of the vatbeneath the fabric. To revent the fabric from sagging or from ulgingupward'between the rollers 12 and 13, smaller rollers or round woodenguide rods 21 may be placed across the tank or vat at intervals, asshownl The plating operation per se does not differ in any respect fromthat usually employed for the electro-deposition of metals, andobviously, the plating vbath may be varied considerably withoutdeparting from the spirit or scope of my invention.

rlhe product resulting from the process above described is illustratedon an enlarged scale in Fig. 4, where it will be seen that each wire 22has two coatings 23 and 24,

and that there is no soldering' together of the wires, or adherence ofone to another at points of contact; This is characteristic of thefabric as actually produced, and obviates the difficulties of priorprocesses. In other words, complete freedom of the wires and consequentflexibility of the fabric is secured, and at the same time all parts ofevery Wire, including those points at which the wires contact one withanother, are protected by a coating of non-corroding metal, and exceptfor possibly very minute spaces they are protected with a doublecoating, giving at once adequate protection to the foundation wire andthe desired finish,

color, and protection to the fabric, as a whole.

I have described the initial coating of the wire as eected by the hotprocess, and this 1 deem eminently desirable, and materially preferableto electroplating the wire in the strand, because a more dense, close orhomogeneous coating is thereby insured, and one less liable to strip orpeel when the wire is bent, stretched, rubbed, or scratched in thesubsequent process of weaving it into cloth\0r fabric. So far as I amaware, however, no one has heretofore applied a metal-v lic coating tothe wire 1n the strand, then woven it into cloth, and finallyelectroplated the cloth, hence 1 mean to claim broadly these steps, andalso to claim specifically the process wherein the first step isperformed only by the hot process, the latter producing a more highlysatisfactory product than I deem obtainable by merely applying bothcoatings by eletro-deposition.

By my process lv am thus enabled to pros duce at relatively low cost astrong wire fabricz which withstands atmospheric conditions 1n hot andmoist climates where the air is salt, and capable also of withstandingin considerable measure fumes, vapors, and moisture charged in greateror less degree with chemical agents which would attack and corrode theunprotected foundation wire. The fabric likewise has the furtherdesirable quality of being flexible in all directions, each wire beingfree from and not soldered or joined to other wires which it crossesorwith which it lies in contact. This is Aa very desirable feature, andone whichl I ybelieve has never before been attained in wire cloth orfabric having both a preliminary and a final coating.

It is to be understood that the particular bath employed for the initialor preliminary coating is variable at will, and may be any of thewell-known or usual baths employed for the like purpose, the compositionof thelbath varying according to the contemplated use of the product.The electro-deposition may similarly be by the galvanic process, orthrough the use of dynamo-electric machinery, that is to say, it may beaccording to any well-known and approved mode ofelectro-deposition.

In a divisional application, Serial No.`

813,003, sled January 19, 1914, I have claimed a fabric composed of wirehaving an initial coating applied to it while in the strand and beforeweaving, and a second coating applied by electro-deposition afterweaving,`such divisional application having been filed upon oiiicialrequirement. The article o r fabric is hence not claimed herein, but isspecifically reserved to said divisional application. l

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. The method ofproducing protected woven wire fabric, which consists in the followingsteps: first, applying to the wire while in the strand and beforeweaving, a protecting metal coating; second, weavin the wire thus coatedinto a fabric; an third, electroplating the woven fabric.

2. The method or process of producing protected wire fabric, whichconsists in, first, immersing the wire while in the strand in a moltenmetallic bath; second, weaving the wire. after treatement in said bathinto a fabric; and thirdfelectroplating the woven fabric. l

In testimony whereof I have signed my nameto this specification in thepresence of two subscribin witnesses.

THE DORE I-I. WICKWIRE.

Witnesses:

Gmo. H. KENNEDY, F. R. Wrcnwmn.

